


Birds Are Singing

by bookworm773



Category: Undertale
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 08:11:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm773/pseuds/bookworm773





	Birds Are Singing

Which fight was this? The seventy-eighth? Seventy-ninth? He had said he’d stop counting after eleven, but they both knew that wasn’t true. Even if it wasn’t verbalized, he knew how many times he had watched the kid die. But the numbers were getting too high, and Sans was getting tired. 

Therein lay the problem. Every time the kid died, they were reset at their save. They got to start over, fresh as a golden flower. They got all their health, their food, their stamina back. But there was only one Sans, and each fight took a little more out of him. He could only keep them at bay for so long. His only hope was to frustrate them enough to end their DETERMINATION.

The kid knew this. You could see it in their cold, emotionless eyes. The first few deaths had left them disgruntled and annoyed, but now they figured out the game, and they were set to win. They didn’t need to kill Sans, only outlast him. 

_Crack._ The soul shattered, raining down red shards in the orange room. Sans knelt for a moment, catching his breath. Then- blackness. Another reset. 

The small figure approached him again, as always. He gave his soliloquy, as always. And the battle began anew. 

By a hundred, Sans had lost count entirely. Moisture beaded on his bony forehead, giving him a white sheen in the stained light. In the beginning, his plea for friendship was a dirty trick, but now he was giving it real consideration. As if it mattered anyway. They would never allow his mercy.

What was he fighting for? Who was he fighting for? The humans, up on the surface? The king? The refugees? The timelines, with all their other Papyruses and Undynes? 

What was the point?

Those weren’t his timelines, and those weren’t his Papyruses or Undynes. They belonged to some other Sans, one who didn’t have to see everyone die like that. He didn’t belong in that world.

The humans were horrible. The king was useless. The refugees would only make it a short time without their leaders. After this slaughter, they’d never find hope again. At best, they’d find a final soul, and take their place back on the surface, leaving a trail of burnt human houses in their wake. This timeline was doomed.

So why was he still fighting?

He didn’t have an answer. And when he didn’t have an answer, he had no reason to keep going. There was no more DETERMINATION. Sans’ knees buckled beneath him, clacking woodenly on the warm tile as he fell. His eyes shut, ready for the final blow that would reunite him with his friends and family. The blow didn’t come.

Slowly, Sans raised his head, eyes daring to blink open. The human was still there. They still had the knife and that emotionless expression on their face. Yet, when they saw him look, the corners of their lips tugged upward into a cold smile. They had won, and they knew it. They just wanted to be sure he knew it too. The knife slashed across him.

_Crack._

A soul shattered. There would be no reset.


End file.
